Bedtime Story
by Sun
Summary: Dairen tells his daughter an interesting bedtime story. Part of my Maggie AU.


Hanna looked up at her father, who was busy tucking in the covers around her. "Daddy, tell me a story."

"Sure, Snowflake." Darien climbed onto the small bed with her and drew her up close next to him. "Once upon a time, there was a princess. Her name was Magdalena. The princess's daddy was an evil wizard and he put a spell on her when she was very little. The spell made Princess Magdalena different from other children her age and she was all alone. One day, while the princess and her parents were traveling, there was an accident. The princess's parents died in the accident and the princess was taken to the hospital. The princess was very sad when she found about her mommy and daddy and she started making things happen."

"What kinda things?" Hanna asked. Being able to do things herself, Hanna was always interested in stories about others who could do things as well.

"She made all kind of things move around and fall over. Eventually, the doctor had to put her in a special room so she wouldn't hurt anyone. That's where the knight and the king found her. The knight's name was Nicholas and he wanted to protect Princess Magdalena. When Sir Nicholas looked into the room, he saw that Princess Magdalena was magic. He called her a snow princess, because she could make things fall out of the sky. Sir Nicholas and King Charles took Princess Magdalena home with them to a special castle where she would be safe. They promised to take care of her and love her.

Princess Magdalena grew up with Sir Nicholas, at his palace. He taught her and showed her how to use her special powers so she wouldn't hurt anyone. She made friends with some of the people who worked at King Charles's castle, but never had any friends of her own age. That made her sad."

Hanna wrinkled her nose. She had lots of friends her age because she went to day care. "Why aren't there any other kids?"

"Princess Magdalena was so special that she wasn't allowed to go to Royal Day Care, like other princes and princesses."

"That's sad." She didn't think she would like not having any friends her own age.

Darien nodded. "It was. One day, when Princess Magdalena was grown up, some bad men from another kingdom broke into Sir Nicholas's palace. You see, they wanted to kidnap the princess for their prince, a bad man named Adam.

King Charles was so mad, he sent a call out to all the men of his kingdom, looking for two of the strongest, cleverest men to go and rescue the princess. He found them easily. One was the head of the king's guards, a knight named Robert. The other was a thief named Darien. Because he was head of the king's guards, Sir Robert didn't want to work with Darien. But what he didn't know was that, like the princess, Darien the Thief was magic. He could make himself and other things disappear."

"Ooo," Hanna breathed her eyes wide.

Darien smiled. "Finally, Sir Robert agreed that he would work with Darien the Thief to save the princess. Together with a group of Sir Robert's men, they traveled to the kingdom of Cobalt to save the princess. The castle the princess was being held in was big and well guarded, but Sir Robert and Darien snuck in and found Princess Magdalena. Sir Robert's men fought against the evil Prince Adam's men while Sir Robert and Darien rescued Princess Magdalena. They brought the princess back to King Charles's castle. The king was very happy to see the princess and so was his friend, the Lady Claire."

"What happened to Sir Nicholas, daddy?" Hanna asked, snuggling closer to her father.

"Prince Adam's bad men hurt Sir Nicholas very badly when they took Princess Magdalena. He died before the princess was saved."

Hanna's face fell. "Oh," she said sadly. "This is a sad story."

Darien frowned. "It gets happier, Snowflake. I promise."

She nodded. "Okay."

He went on. "The princess was very sad when she heard about Sir Nicholas. Her new friends, Sir Robert, Darien the Thief and Lady Claire were very nice to her and together they had many adventures. One day, several years later, Darien the Thief and Princess Magdalena were laying in the shade under a tree in the courtyard of her palace. Darien looked over at the princess and realized that he loved the princess very much. Because he loved her very much, he wanted to marry the princess. So he asked her."

"Daddy!" Hanna exclaimed.

"What?"

"He can't marry Princess Magdalena."

Darien looked at his daughter in mock confusion. "Why?"

Hanna sat up and put her little hands on her hips. "Because she's a princess. She has to marry a prince." Her tone of voice implied that he should already know that.

"Ah. Well, the princess said the same thing. She was very sad about this, because she loved Darien back. But what the princess didn't know was that Darien wasn't just a thief. He was the Prince of Thieves. So he could marry her, because he was a prince.

All of their friends were very happy about this. They had a big wedding with everyone there. Prince Darien moved into the palace with Princess Magdalena and they had a beautiful little princess named, um,"

"Hanna!" she called out.

"Okay, named Hanna. And now it's time for bed."

"Daddy," Hanna exclaimed in exasperation.

Darien looked at her. "Yes?"

"That's not how the story ends."

"It's not?"

Hanna shook her head. Obviously, daddies didn't know everything. Especially when it came to storytelling. "You hafta say, 'an' they all lived happily ever after'."

"Of course. How could I forget? So they had a little princess named,"

"Bootyful."

"Sorry. They had a beautiful little princess named Hanna. And they all lived happily ever after." He dropped a kiss on her head. "Time for bed." Darien stood up so she could lie down.

Hanna scooted down under her covers; her faithful teddy bear tucked under one arm. "Hugs," she said and raised her arms. Darien leaned forward with a smile and hugged her. As he straightened up, he kissed her on the cheek.

"Do I get hugs?" Maggie asked as she stepped into Hanna's room.

Hanna held her arms out again. Maggie gave her daughter a hug and a kiss. "Night, baby."

"Night, mommy. Night, daddy." Hanna called as Darien shut off the light. He made sure the duck shaped nightlight was on and left the door open a crack. "Daddy?"

Darien paused. "Yeah, baby?"

"Will you tell me 'bout the 'ventures Princess Madalena and her friends have tomorrow?"

"We'll see, Hanna. Good night."

Maggie was grinning at him as he pulled the door closed. "What?" he asked.

"Interesting story." Maggie commented, still smiling.

Darien shrugged. "I thought it was a good story."

She raised an eyebrow. "Darien, the Prince of Thieves?"

He slung an arm over her shoulders and guided her down the hall to their own bedroom. "You heard the kid, Princess Magdalena couldn't marry someone who wasn't a prince."

"Wait until I tell Hobbes you made him a knight. And head of the King's guard. We'll never hear the end of it."


End file.
